The general election is getting closer.
The German tussle has so far received little attention in the US media.
Until now - and this time not very charming.
New York City / Berlin - The federal elections will take place in a good three weeks - even the United States will not miss it.
The renowned
New York Times
dealt with the German election campaign.
And is particularly amused by the SPD's candidate for Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
The telling title of the article: “There is an election campaign in Germany.
Please no charisma! "
The Merkel era is nearing its end, three applicants are in the starting blocks: Scholz, Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet and Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock.
The observations of the pulling rope before the September 26 election date
prompted
a
New York Times
journalist to write an uncomfortable analysis of the top candidates.
New York Times pokes fun at Scholz - "Most boring man in the whole country"
The two leading applicants for the Chancellery, Scholz and Laschet, are "everything else exciting," writes the Berlin correspondent of the newspaper. Nonetheless: “This is how the Germans like it.” There are particularly angry comments about the SPD politician. "The top candidate is so boring that people compare it to a machine," says the article. Instead of optimism like Barack Obama's slogan “Yes, We Can!”, Voters would be cheered on with the promise of “stability”.
(Can Laschet turn things around again? With our politics newsletter you will always find all the news about the federal election.)
The German election campaign created a “charisma vacuum” - which raises the question of whether, as the largest European economic nation, there will soon also be a “leadership deficit”. It continues in this style. Scholz and Laschet are attested to be two “career politicians wearing suits”, “a bald head, a pair of glasses, both over 60”. Baerbock, on the other hand, comes off better, she is introduced as a “candidate for change”, with a courageous reform agenda and a lot of verve - but after a brief soaring up in the polls, she's lagging behind. According to the journalist, the general election is about who can best channel Angela Merkel. A method that Scholz in particular relies on. Even if Merkel recently pointed out clear limits. The SPD politician has avoided mistakes so far, especially by saying very little.
Federal election 2021: New York Times looks at the German election campaign - and has little left for Scholz
The newspaper also quotes the former US ambassador to Berlin, John Kornblum, as saying: “The guy everyone likes best is the boring guy in the elections - maybe in the whole country.
It makes it seem exciting to see water boiling. ”However, the newspaper suggests, there is a consensus among political observers that Germans love boredom.
The article provides the reason for this with a look at the history books - and a reference to comedian Jan Böhmermann. "The haunting memory of Hitler's election victory by the NSDAP shaped Germany's post-war democracy in various ways, said Böhmermann, 'and one of them is that charisma is banned from politics'." The
Times
quotes
Andrea Römmele, dean of the Hertie School in Berlin : "A Trump character could never become Chancellor here."
CSU boss Markus Söder, who fought with Laschet over the Union's candidacy for chancellor, is also mentioned.
According to the
New York Times,
a German scientist
says the Bavarian would have become the top candidate if there had been pre-elections, turning away from Germany's political system
.
It goes on to say: "Bavaria's ambitious Governor Söder has a lot of beer tent charisma and is the most popular politician in the state after Ms. Merkel."
(Aka)
Also read:
Corona specialist Karl Lauterbach has repeatedly confirmed that he wants to become Federal Minister of Health.
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz keeps a low profile.
A search for clues.
List of rubric lists: © Britta Pedersen / Ole Spata / dpa
